Jerry Pinkney

Inspiration from a cartoonist

I started drawing very early and was very much encouraged by both my mother and father. So, I always had a drawing pad and a pencil with me.

And at the age of 12 years old, I took my first job. It was selling newspapers at a very busy intersection in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And I would actually take a drawing pad and pencil to work with me, and in between selling newspapers I would draw people waiting for the bus or the trolley. There was a very large department store right across from my newsstand. And when they would change the window displays, I would actually do new drawings of the mannequins. There happened to be a bridal window right next, so I had a lot of drawings of lace.

One of my customers was John Liney, who was the cartoonist of "Little Henry." And one day, he took note of me drawing, and he invited me up to his studio – which was about a block up the street. And I remember that day very clearly, because he was on the third floor. There was a studio with very wide windows, which allowed light in. Around the walls, there were sketches, but in the center was a drawing table, and a taboret, with all kinds of drawing materials. There were inks. There were watercolors, colored pencils.

And that amazed me. You remember I said I loved drawing. I had a drawing pad and pencil. But out of all that, what was truly inspiring was the fact that here was a grown man sitting in the drawing table, doing the very same thing that I loved doing – making pictures.

So, yes. Very much so. He did inspire me. I didn't know at that point that the road would lead to being a professional artist, art as a career. But certainly it had to be at that point when I knew it was a possibility.

Lots of little pushes

I had no real role models in terms of – especially an African-American – as a working artist. But along the way, there was always someone to sort of get behind me and give me a little push. And it came in different forms.

Certainly, the encouragement to keep drawing was one. But I think the way people responded to what I was doing – I had some sense that they saw something in me. And with that, I could use that as energy to succeed. So that even though I thought, as growing up, there were high hurdles to clear, I always had someone to help me over those hurdles.

I didn't read until very, very late. And I was awkward, and spelling became problematic for me. So, I stayed clear of, certainly, literature at the time, or books. But, again, there was always someone to be there to support this fact that I could visualize things, because I was always the class artist. There was always a Tuesday afternoon class, or Saturday class, where I would take portfolio in hand and get on a bus or a trolley and travel to some other part of the city to get some sort of professional training. And that happened beginning at 11, 12 years old. So, again, there was always something in place to say, "Hey, it is a possibility for you."

Children don't do "bad" art

When I'm asked the question often about encouraging youngsters or a teacher how they would encourage young students, I give them an example of how our children were reared. And that is that we introduced them to art very early through taking them to museums. We were fortunate to live in Boston, and it was the Alma Lewis School of the Performing Arts. So, we enrolled them very early in the performing arts as well as the visual arts.

As a matter of fact, all of our children had studied dance, drama, the visual arts and music. Myles and Brian are musicians. They both play the drums. Now, when I say "introduced" them to it, I mean just that – that what we thought was that if we introduced them to them without any restraints or any expectations, that they had two alternatives. One would be that they could grow up and perhaps choose it as a vocation. The other would be that it would enlarge their lives – no matter what they chose to do.

Now, what we did was always, when we either rented or the houses that we owned, there was always a common space. And in that common space were always desks and materials. Oftentimes, they requested certain materials that they liked. Brian liked to do things with the pipe cleaners. He used to make little figures and things like that. And we provided them with materials.

And in that space, in that common space was theirs. There was no instruction, and they could do whatever they wanted to. And I think in some way, in getting back to teachers or parents, exposure is the important part of it. And without expectations, because that allows the child or student free to choose. And I think that is one of the things that in some way I had, but came differently, because I didn't have any expectations. I didn't quite understand becoming an artist, but I think, for children, it's the freedom to create; the freedom to express themselves; and also the encouragement and, I think, the support to keep doing it. As children, they don't do "bad" art. There's no such thing. It's all wonderful.

Clearing high hurdles

I struggled throughout my elementary school years. Now, I now know that I'm dyslexic. At the time, there was no such word. I mean we knew – or, teachers knew, there were some children who struggled with reading or with spelling, but we didn't know exactly what it meant in terms of dyslexia and how the mind works.

So that one of the things that drawing did for me was help my self-esteem. Because even though I knew that there was a struggle in the area of reading and spelling – because I lagged far behind my fellow students – I could make pictures. And I was also encouraged to make pictures. I became the class artist as far back as first grade.

And there was some part of me that recognized that even though I had those hurdles to clear, that there was a way for me to express myself. And I did – because of my parents, had some sense of self-esteem, and I wanted to be successful.

So, what I did was I translated that into if, in fact, I could do something well, then I could work very hard to do other things well. I graduated from elementary school with honors.

I've also used that hurdle of having difficulty with spelling or reading to put myself front and center in that place where – what do I do? I read, I write, I interpret language. And I love the idea of language. And I think that what I discovered is that, again, if you find a way to express yourself, that all things are possible. And certainly, I did not let the difficulty as I had as a child stop me from becoming a successful artist.

Finding the gift in it

I still don't think I'm a great reader. But I read well.

And if I can tell you a story that I like telling – and that is that one of the things that's happened to me and what's made me, I think, successful in doing books – not only books for children, but also novels – is that I read very slowly. And in reading very slowly, I pick up detail. And I have found that when it comes to detail, then I'm at an advantage over someone who reads very quickly. So that in reading a story, or reading a novel, I digest it more. And I can keep it in my head longer.

So, in a kind of a curious way, in some ways I've learned to use that as a tool to actually benefit and move ideas ahead, simply because it takes me quite a while to read something.

So, again, now as an adult, I realize if you speak to people who are very successful and happen to be dyslexic, they've taken that and tried to find a gift in it. And that's what I've done.

It also makes one, I think, for me, stronger as a visual artist. Because of that hurdle in language, I forced myself, and I have a gift to express myself, visually. So, I can tell a story – the same story, but visually, and sometimes more effectively.